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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 9 Hansard (6 September) . . Page.. 2886 ..

MR QUINLAN (continuing):

Today's bill merely allows for the intent of my amendment of last week to be enshrined within the legislation, without creating the problem of the voluminous amounts of paper required to fully inform the Assembly, by informing it just at summary level. The bill prescribes and enumerates the particulars that must be presented to the Assembly and these are not particularly onerous, so I commend the bill to the Assembly.

Debate (on motion by Mr Humphries ) adjourned.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY AMENDMENT BILL 2000 (NO 3)

Mr Berry , pursuant to notice, as amended, by leave, presented the bill.

Title read by Clerk.

MR BERRY (10.36): I move:

Mr Speaker, rather than give two speeches in relation to these matters, because notices number two and three relate to the same or similar issues, I will only make one introductory speech covering them both. Therefore, I will not be speaking in detail in relation to the second notice that is before the house.

I once again rise to introduce a bill to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1989. As I mentioned, a further amendment is being introduced in the Dangerous Goods Amendment Bill 2000, which appears at notice number three. The purpose of the amendments I introduce today is to again extend the period in which a prosecution under either of the pieces of legislation may be brought before the courts.

Member will know that I remain committed to ensuring that the ACT's occupational health and safety laws remain effective. To achieve this they must be applied to incidents such as the hospital implosion, with particular reference to the lengthy and unexpected delays in finalising the coronial inquiry, and now the subsequent criminal charge. I would like to make it absolutely clear at the outset that, in introducing this legislation today, I make no inference as to the outcome of the ongoing criminal action in the courts, nor to the actions of anyone who may, in any way, be associated with the matter.

It is appropriate to look at dramatic incidents elsewhere and compare how they have been handled with the way the incident in the ACT has been handled. I refer, in particular, to the matter of the Maccabiah bridge disaster, which happened on 14 July 1997, the day after the bungled hospital implosion. Since July 1997, there has been an inquiry into the Maccabiah bridge disaster, charges have been laid, the trial has been finalised, the jail sentence has commenced, negotiations on compensation have been carried out, and compensation was paid in 1999. There has also been a subsequent inquiry, so things move much faster in Israel than they do in the ACT.

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